BBC removes controversial show from iPlayer: Gaza documentary taken down to carry out ‘further due diligence’

A BBC documentary which has caused controversy this week has been removed from iPlayer. The broadcaster has said Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone was taken down while “further due diligence with the production company” was being carried out.

The corporation apologised earlier this week when it emerged the child narrator on the film is the son of Ayman Alyazouri - who worked as Hamas’s deputy minister of agriculture. During the programme, Abdullah Al-Yazouri talks about the war between Israel and Hamas and what life is like to live in the war torn territory. A disclaimer was then added to the programme.

First broadcast on Monday at 9pm on BBC Two and then added to iPlayer, further accusations followed including claims that other children were pictured with the militant group Hamas.

On its clarifications and corrections page, the BBC said: “Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone features important stories we think should be told – those of the experiences of children in Gaza. There have been continuing questions raised about the programme and in light of these, we are conducting further due diligence with the production company. The programme will not be available on iPlayer while this is taking place.”

Since October 2023, when Hamas attacked festivalgoers and Israeli settlers, more than 48,000 Palestinians have died, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The militant group is currently releasing hostages to Israel as part of a ceasefire agreement.

London-based Hoyo Films made the film after working with the BBC on the documentary Ukraine: Enemy In The Woods. The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians has criticised concerns raised about the documentary, and urged the BBC to “stand firm against these attempts to prevent first-hand accounts of life in Gaza from reaching audiences”.

A statement from the Harrow-based organisation also said: “For some, almost any Palestinian perspective appears to be deemed unacceptable. In this case, objections have been raised because Abdullah’s father holds a government role in Gaza’s Hamas-run administration. However, this does not negate the child’s lived experience or invalidate his testimony.”

On Wednesday, a letter from Friday Night Dinner and EastEnders actress Tracy-Ann Oberman, Strike producer Neil Blair, former BBC One controller Danny Cohen and producer Leo Pearlman called for the BBC to pull the documentary.

Mr Cohen said on Friday it is “a shocking failure by the BBC and a major crisis for its reputation”, and claimed that a featured girl and a boy – who has carried wounded civilians in the documentary – have links to Hamas. He also said: “The BBC’s senior leadership needs to wake up now and admit the corporation has a serious problem.”

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said on Thursday she would be “discussing” the documentary with the BBC. “These things are difficult and I do want to acknowledge that for the BBC, they take more care than most broadcasters in terms of the way that they try to portray these things,” she told LBC.

“We’re also discussing the training and work that they’re doing internally for their own staff around not just antisemitism, but the issues around Israel and Gaza and the way in which they treat those internally for staff.”